025 Idol Arc 1: Let's Form a Fleet!
Edited both the previous and current chapters.
Sorry to those who read the old version—extra work on your part.
One week building a Personal Ship, five days of beginner training.
My debt of one hundred million G plus the tuition fee hadn’t budged at all.
I’d expected steady income from government work—but still no call.
Gotta earn at least the tuition fee somehow.
The past week, I’d made decent coin scavenging debris—but no matter how I looked at it, summer break was down to less than a month.
(Weak. Gotta find a better-paying job, or I won’t even cover tuition.)
So I started thinking. Two options.
Form a fleet, enter the fleet simulation tournament, and win the prize money.
Form a fleet, participate in enemy fleet interception operations.
So, no way forward without forming a fleet.
Everyone in the beginner's course said their fleet was already assigned—so I can’t count on them.
Guess I’m supposed to team up with someone from back in the SFC days.
I used my sister’s save file, so I don’t know a single soul from those times.
…Is this really not awkward?
I decided to head to the guild and check the bulletin board for fleet (party) member recruitment.
Arrived at the guild. Walked inside.
Scanned the whole place. No bulletin board in sight.
(Shouldn’t there be a party member sign-up notice? Oh right—quests are handed out at the front desk.)
Oops. I wandered over to the empty front desk.
“Where do I look for fleet member recruitment… not a party?”
"You can access the member recruitment board through your wristband. You'll fill out an application there and then attend an interview."
"Wait... is there a quest board too?"
"Yes. You can take on quests without even coming to the guild."
(That’s how it works... I didn’t know.)
"...Thanks."
I’ve been wasting my time all along.
Every single time, I’d go to the front desk just to have a quest handed to me.
Free harvesting? Not worth it—too much turf war.
For now, I leave the guild and head to the plaza in front of the transfer portal.
I sit on a bench and fiddle with my wristband, opening the member recruitment board.
Recruitment listings stretch from rookie fleets to veterans.
I tap on a veteran fleet’s listing.
No surprise—there’s a cutoff based on simulated tournament results.
So basically, they only accept transfers from people who’ve already proven themselves in other fleets.
Try somewhere else.
Mid-tier fleets had rigid ship-type requirements.
Someone must’ve left, and they’re looking to fill that specific role.
Obviously, no fleet’s going to be recruiting for flagship class.
Try somewhere else.
Tap the recruitment listing for a rookie fleet.
No experience needed. Beginners welcome. Yeah, that makes sense—since you’re all beginners, right?
The entry screen pops up.
Follow the prompts. In the ship type field, enter “Other (Fleet Flagship).”
Select the 5cm Railgun under the main gun section.
Suddenly, text floats onto the screen.
‘After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that, this time, we are unable to meet your expectations.’
Guess low-armed ships aren’t wanted.
After dealing with a dozen similar rejections, I gave up on regular job postings.
I started targeting the niche ones—specialist recruitment.
After some searching, I found one that matched.
‘Seeking Communications Officer with Wide-Area Communication Device Model B or higher.’
My Personal Ship is equipped with a Model S. Maybe I can make it work.
I opened the application screen right away.
Selected “Wide-Area Communication Device Model S” in the application form.
Finished all fields. Then came the photo request.
Used the wrist-mounted camera to snap a shot and attached it.
‘We’ll conduct an interview. Please arrive at residential district D-9-301 tomorrow at 10 a.m.’
Finally, I’d made it to the interview stage.
The next day, 9:50 a.m. I arrived at the designated residential district D-9-301.
As I reached the venue, a female attendant was waiting, flipping through my application.
“Mr. GN Akira, correct? Please bring this with you.”
Got entry number six.
I followed the female attendant’s prompt into the interview waiting room.
A decent number of women were already gathered there.
Adjusting their makeup like they were preparing for war.
Felt out of place, but stayed put and waited.
"Applicants numbered one through five, please follow me to the interview room."
The attendant guided the women toward the interview room.
After a while, five women returned.
They grabbed their belongings and left without a word.
No chatter about the interview at all.
"Applicants numbered six through ten, please follow me to the interview room."
The attendant’s voice called us—me included—and we five stood up, moving toward the interview room.
Stepped inside, faced the interviewer.
"Hey, hello. I’m Kazusa, the manager of this office. Nice to meet you."
A dark-skinned, thirty-something man with that unmistakable industry vibe.
Revised.